From microbes to ants, small things and their very large ecosystem footprints

Leaf cutting ants are increasing in abundance in tropical and subtropical ecosystems that cover 17% of the Earth’s land mass and store approximately 40% of all carbon, much of it in soil. Leaf cutter ant nests are massive and during nest construction and maintenance, ants mix soil particles and alter soil chemistry. As ants bring leaf biomass into their nests, they influence soil microbial communities and the processes they mediate, with large impacts on ecosystem carbon dynamics. We are quantifying these impacts and using the information to scale up leaf cutter ant influences across a range of tropical ecosystems.